


Hell Or High Water

by wllgardners



Category: Code Black (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-10
Updated: 2018-02-19
Packaged: 2019-03-16 03:33:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 7,623
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13627722
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wllgardners/pseuds/wllgardners
Summary: Much more than Ethan ever imagined is at stake when a deadly outbreak turns Angels Memorial upside down. {Spoilers for the S2 finale}





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is just a random thought that hit me after rewatching the end of last season (a small celebration for FINALLY GETTING AN AIR DATE FOR SEASON 3). Reviews, suggestions or anything else are always welcome.

A shrill cry echoed throughout the pitch black house, breaking the frightening silence of the place that seemed to be more of a horror movie set than an actual home. Then it was the sound of something hitting the hardwood floor intensely, which was actually the one thing that made Ethan’s eyes scan the room and identify the source of all that noise. His heart halted inside his chest for a split of second, momentarily causing his breath to get caught up on his throat when he saw patient zero on top of Leanne.

 

He didn’t hesitate for long though, those instincts of a soldier he had been refining since joining the army over 25 years ago kicked in right away and Ethan found himself grabbing the ripped, blood stained t-shirt the ill man wore with both his hands. Raul was tackled hard on the ground, losing consciousness rapidly as small dark red pool formed underneath his fragile body. 

 

The adrenaline that washed the male doctor’s body prevented him from observing the whole extent of the situation at first. Leanne breath was shaky, she didn’t make a move to rise from the floor, which initially he attributed to instant shock after the attack. But only later, as Ethan offered her his hand and helped the woman he’d been sharing the softest, most secluded side of himself over the past few months get back on her feet, he could fully comprehend the ramifications of what just happened.

 

Leanne’s forehead was bleeding, that was the first thing he saw. Then, it became clearer that the protection glass of her hazmat suit helmet was broken, and, judging by the red dots staining the outer side of the suit, seemed as if Raul had cut himself as well. She stared at Ethan speechless, although the apologetic look on her eyes gave him certainty that his worst nightmare since the outbreak of yesterday was coming true.

 

“I’ve been exposed,” the words escaped her lips weakly, barely consisting in a whisper as she vocally acknowledged the event that would undoubtedly change the course of the next few hours of both their lives.

 

Ethan didn’t say anything in return, at least not at first. He panted quietly, his icy blue eyes glimmered with sorrow as he just watched her. Desperation clouding his judgement, making it harder for him to think rationally. In the midst of a mess of thoughts and fears, the light in the end of this tunnel of agony presented to himself as a memory of not long ago.

 

_ “Quit looking at me like that,” Leanne’s voice rose an octave as her cheeks blushed furiously.  _

 

_ Just by staring to the shyness evident on her features, Ethan could tell she was biting the insides of her cheeks to suppress a laughter. She had that slight glow on the hazel hues of her eyes, the one that made his knees turn to jelly in a snap of fingers. He could spend the rest of his life here, on the roof of Angels Memorial in an early Sunday morning, by the side of the woman that turned his whole life  around in a matter of months, simply enjoying her company and the way her small timid smile lit up half of Los Angeles. _

 

_ “You’re holding my hand,” he stated utterly mesmerized as the curve of his lips became more apparent. His grin widened at her.  _

 

_ “Is it bothering you?” she fixated her orbs on his, her words suddenly becoming overwhelmed with uncertainty. Her hand refused to part ways with his, however. _

 

_ “No,” his voice came out a little more exasperated than he hoped for. Exhaling heavily, he courageously chose the words to hint at what he was really feeling, although at this point, he wasn’t even sure of what those feelings were. “I-I like this…” _

 

_ The once shy smile plastered on her lips turned into a full beautiful smirk at his words. Her fingers intertwined with his as she took a step closer to him. In the sweetest of the tones, soothing and at the same time powerful enough to set a whole flutter of butterflies to fly all over his stomach, she agreed with him. _

 

_ “I like it too.” _

 

The colonel’s gaze fell to his glove covered hand still holding Leanne’s. His body quivered under the layers of protective cloth, a natural reaction to the consuming fear that had took control of every inch of him. He pressed his palm tighter on hers, an unconscious gesture in a claim of keeping her close, not letting her slip away.

 

Reality sunk in, the chances of her being infected after this were gigantic. And, that being said, she probably had not more than a couple of days left to live if the cure wasn’t obtained in such a short window of time. So he would have to be strong, not exactly for her, but for him mostly. Cause the idea of losing her and everything they’ve been cultivating together was downright the most painful thing Ethan could face in years.

 

He would have to work on that later, finding his balance and reason once again. Cause for now, controlling the way his voice broke once he finally managed to say something back at her was an impossible task. 

 

“Yeah, you were…”

 


	2. Chapter 2

It took him a whole lot of effort to keep his hands steady as he stitched up that damn cut that likely became the entrance for a deadly virus in Leanne’s body. They hadn’t talk much since the incident in Raul’s house. Both of them were appalled over everything that had occurred in the last couple of days for actually maintaining a conversation flowing naturally. Add that to the fact that it was still complicated to wrap his head around the fact that if he didn’t find a way to fight this disease, he would lose one of the most amazing things that had ever in his life, and suddenly his deafening silence made perfect sense.

 

The wound was successfully sutured, yet, it didn’t serve as any relief for Ethan. Looking at the bruised area on her forehead just served to remind him of how helpless he was back at ground zero of the infection. He’d try and move any mountain to go back in time and prevent this all from happening. He’d give everything to feel that comfortable familiarity that was only present around her.

 

_ Ethan leaned his shoulder on the door frame, observing while the steam coming from the bathroom slightly fogged his sight of the messy sheets on top of the mattress. He smirked as the exciting memories of how his bed ended up disheveled like that popped inside his brain. It didn’t take long for his eyes to find her pacing around the room, collecting the garments he so gladly tossed on the floor as they stumbled together in search of a flat surface the night before. Biting his lower lip, he admired the view of her hourglass figure putting her underwear back on. _

 

_ “Are you really going home?” he asked, secretly begging that she’d change her mind. _

 

_ “I have to,” she slid her arms inside the sleeves of her red blouse. With each new button she’d close, the glorious vision of the freckled covered torso he showered with kisses not so long ago became more inconspicuous.  _

 

_ “I’m perfectly capable of cooking us breakfast, you know?” Ethan joked, only to hear her laughter filling up the whole room soon after. _

 

_ “I’ll take a rain check on that,” she flashed him a grin before pulling her jeans up. The tight cloth that hugged her curves on all the right places kept him craving for more. “But I need a fresh change of clothes before going to work in a couple of hours.” _

 

_ “Your clothes look fine,” he stated with a slight snort. For all he knew, she could be wearing a potato bag and still look like the most wonderful woman in the face of the Earth. A smug graced his lips as he continued. “It’s not like you wore those for long.” _

 

_ A soft chuckle reverberated from the back of her throat. “Can’t risk having Jesse see me arriving at Angels with the same clothes of yesterday. He’d never shut up about it.” _

 

_ “Fair enough,” he sighed defeated in return. _

 

_ Leanne walked towards him, stopping only to land each of her hands on his cheeks and pull his face down to plant a tender soft kiss on his thin lips. His arms wrapped around her waist, as one of his hands snaked up her back to dip on the wet strands of her hair. Pulling back slowly, she smiled warmly as he rested his forehead on hers. Both of them shut their eyes, enjoying the moment a little longer. _

 

_ She let her fingers lightly dance down the skin of his neck and ribs until she could hold onto his hips, right above from where the white towel he had enwrapped on his body was. “I’ll come more prepared next time.” _

 

_ “Oh, so there will be a next time,” he muttered in between a sly smile. _

 

_ “After today’s shift, if you’re game,” she added suggestively. Although he didn’t actually see it, Ethan could tell she was grinning as well. _

 

_ “Deal,” he whispered. “I’ll let you go home in a minute.” _

 

_ “Make it two,” Leanne pulled his figure closer to hers again, tiptoeing in order to kiss him once again. _

 

_ The promise of another fantastic night, much like last one, prompts his heart to pound inside his chest right away. The second deeper kiss works as a little taste of what’s ahead. He’d count the seconds for this other chance of being alone with her and repeating every single gesture that made her moan his name over and over again last night. _

 

“How bad is it?” Leanne’s flat voice snapped him out of this little trip down memory lane.

 

“You should see the other guy,” he attempted to humour both of them but all he can do was faintly curve one corner of his mouth. In a sober tone, he tried to offer solace for both of them. “Leanne, you may not be infected.”

 

“Sure. A patient with a highly aggressive fluid-borne contagion drips his blood into my open wound…” She was the one making snarky remarks then, solely based on the fact that she could see how this had been affecting him. Any sort of smile would make this better. “I’m sure you’re right.”

 

“It should’ve been me,” he breathed out, guilt weighing down his shoulders.

 

“Then I’d be the one worrying, and you’d be the one headed to the tent,” she tried to dismiss his dark thoughts. Even to imagine what it would be like if the roles were reversed was enough to make her stomach flip with anxiety. There was already too much for her to lose inside that quarantine, thank heavens he wasn’t among them.

 

“I’m not worried,” he says in return, perhaps a little firmer than originally intended. “We’re gonna figure this out.”

 

Her gaze falls to the situation outside of the ambulance they’re in. Soldiers and CDC workers circling the block, carrying heavy metal boxes and weapons as big and scary as those she’d seen before only in movies. Ariel’s previous words to her started to make more sense now. “If anyone thought we could figure this out, there wouldn’t be men with guns everywhere.”

 

She got lost in her own thoughts for a while, much like he did. They allowed silence to fall upon them, the perspective of not actually obtaining a happy ending for all of this covertly shaking both to their core. 

 

“It’s not fair,” he eventually voiced, and she knew he was actually referring to their situation at this point.

 

“Hey, you’ve got a lot to do. Go there, work on saving us all,” Leanne placed her hand on his knee, squeezing it gently in a comforting manner. Her head nodded to the chaos outside as she waited for his eyes to flicker on the crowded street in front of them before locking with hers again. She offered him some hope, which was pretty much everything she can do then. “If there’s anyone who can pull this one off, is you.”

 

He shook his head in agreement, rose from his seat, and moved to set his feet in the pavement. Turning back to her one last time before walking inside the tent looking for a solution, he witnessed as her eyes fill up with tears. His did the same, but he can’t afford to waste any more time right now.

 


	3. Chapter 3

If

If this were a cartoon, a lightbulb would instantly sparkle on above Ethan’s head the exact second when the idea of calling in a favor crossed his mind. In case there really was a vaccine somewhere out there, he would get it in here as soon as possible. He wouldn’t accept CDC’s stupid boundaries and their shady decision of leaving tons of people inside that tent to the mercy of a deadly virus. A miracle was still bound to happen, and the colonel was willing to use all the cards up his sleeve to assure this would happen.

 

He crossed the street practically running towards the staff entrance of Angels Memorial to make up the phone call for his old buddy, General Hutchens. In fact, he was only about ten feet away from it when he heard some perceptible inflamed voices coming from the entrance of the quarantine. It was Jesse and Angus, removing their protective masks in order to talk to Leanne, who by now was about to be isolated with the other patients.

 

Stopping on his tracks, he watched the scene with his breath hitched inside his throat and a broke his heart. Mama and Daddy had one of those kind of everlasting bonds that are unique, very few people are likely to find a friendship as strong as the one they had. Leanne had told him many times before how Jesse stood by her side and helped her get back on her feet after the accident, the nurse was there for her every step of the way as she slowly returned to real life. Ethan had this strange feeling of gratitude towards Mama, simply by knowing everything he had done for her.

 

Now more than ever, he and the rest of the non infected staff needed to find a way to exterminate this outbreak once and for all. None of them deserved to have their loved ones ripped away by a tragedy to this extent. And for that, the army doctor would do his part the best way he could. 

 

He watched from afar as she disappeared inside the tunnel connecting to the tent, his heart feeling heavier once he couldn’t see her anymore.

 

It was hard to properly process how he ended up inside the hospital with a landline phone in his hand. His index finger pushed the buttons of the number he knew by heart as his mind used its best tactic to keep him focused. Bad thoughts were pushed aside, leaving enough room for happier memories to be triggered. Moments like those were the things worth fight for.

 

_ The locker room was decorated with strings of Christmas lights. Jesse was probably the one behind this, he took all holidays very seriously. Ethan found this rather amusing, considering he’d spent a handful of years not properly celebrating due to his deployment assignments. _

 

_ It was almost 6 A.M. when he dumped his backpack inside the locker, prepping himself in the next few minutes before shift began. His hand shut the door close, only to reveal a lovely face with an even more beautiful little smile waiting for him.  _

 

_ “Hey,” Leanne greeted him. She was casually leaned against the locker beside his, her hands behind her in a rather suspicious way. _

 

_ “Good morning,” he grinned at her in response, curiosity peaking on his blue hues regarding whatever she was hiding. He tilted his head back a couple of times, using his chin to point at her. “What are you up to?” _

 

_ “I got you a little something,” she took a light blue box laced with a strap in a darker shade of blue. The box was about as big her pair of hands together, she offered it to him and at the same time let her smile grow wilder. “Merry Christmas.” _

 

_ “You shouldn’t have,” he said surprised, perhaps even a bit embarrassed since he hadn’t bought her anything. “I-I thought we had agreed on not exchanging presents.” _

 

_ “It’s not exactly a gif for  _ _ you _ _. It’s a gift for  _ _ us _ _ ,” she explained herself before continuing in a firmer tone. “Now open it.” _

 

_ He did as she requested, removing the lid open and finding a rather interesting item inside. A wave of sudden warmth spread through his face and he knew his cheeks were most likely blushed by now. Among the four white walls from the inside of the box there was an enthusiastically racy red lingerie, covered with lace and surely not large enough to leave much for the imagination. _

 

_ “Wow…” he exhaled, a smirk dancing on his lips as he did so. “Oh my God.” _

 

_ “Liked it?” she raised an eyebrow at him teasingly. _

 

_ “You bet I did,” Ethan swallowed hard before closing the box quickly and opening his locker once again to storage it there. “How the hell you expect me to focus on work after that?” _

 

_ “I don’t. That’s the fun of it,” she stated proudly. “But you probably should find a way,” her hand gently tapped on his chest with an open palm twice. Shortly after, she walked right past him towards the hallway in order to begin another day at the E.R. _

 

_ “You’re gonna kill me like that.” _

 

_ “I suggest you don’t die before tonight,” she looked at him from over her shoulder with a smug. _

 

_ With his gaze fixated on the slight sway of her hips, he observed as she disappeared from the locker room. She was a knockout and he would gladly stay down at the boxing ring canvas as many times as she’d want him to. _

 

He was much more confident by the time he went past the quarantine security and walked towards Leanne. She was sat in front of Ariel’s gurney, as he had guessed. Her eyes instantly glowing in the middle of shocked expression as she saw him right there.

 

“How did you get in here? I thought Reddick ordered all-” she never had a chance to finish her sentence, he trailed her off with better news.

 

“I talked to General Hutchens. The vaccine’s on the way.” he remarked triumphantly. 


	4. Chapter 4

“Nothing I say will make you change your mind, right?” Ethan stared into those beautiful hazel eyes fishing for any signs of hesitation. Leanne shook her head to the sides slowly, not breaking visual contact and also indicating she wouldn’t back out. “Thought so, I just- wanted to to be sure.”

 

“Worried, now?” she questioned after observing how unhinged he seemed while speaking this last sentence.

 

“No,” he forced a scoff. “I know that you’ll respond well to the vaccine and we’ll be able to produce a cure from that. You’ll be the savior of everyone.”

 

His attempt to humour her had a positive reception, she laughed honestly for the first time in 48 hours. “I think I needed that.”

 

He smiled back at her. It was good to see that side of Leanne he was used to, the one that never failed to giggle at all the stupid jokes he made. Underneath all the fear and the complications of this outbreak, the woman he had fallen hopelessly for was still there.

 

Jesse arrived about the time the army doctor moved from his folding chair placed in front of the gurney where brunette patient was sat. He organized the things necessary to inject her with the vaccine while his ear curiously picked up bits of the two best friends’ conversation going on a few feet away from him. The nurse was obviously worried about the risks involved in this insane procedure. Mama did his best to convince the ill doctor that she should let it go, there were other less dangerous ways to try and solve the situation. 

 

“...there’s no one waiting at home for me, Jesse,” Leanne tried to justify the reason behind her choice of taking this chance. She glared at Ethan, only to find him already gazing at her. At that point, she knew he was remembering a similar conversation they once had.

 

_ “Sure, but Mrs. Montgomery why are you so bothered that I left my kitchen window open?” Leanne was starting to get irritated with the older woman on the other side of the line that kept rambling on and on about how her pet had gone missing. “Your cat isn’t here. I can as-” _

 

_ “Uh, Leanne?” Ethan’s confused voice coming from the hallway caused her to get up from bed and meet him under the bathroom’s door frame.  _

 

_ “Nevermind, I’ll get him to you…” she put an end to the call. _

 

_ The light green tiles of the bathroom floor were covered in toothpaste with little pawn marks serving as the primary evidence of what caused this. Her towels were also pushed down the ground, and a long line of toilet paper was thorn and crossing the room, directly on top of the white cream mess. A loud meowing coming from the other side of the wall broke the spell that got both doctors to stare at the mess with wide eyes. _

 

_ “Is that a cat?” the man asked, furrowing his eyebrows in confusion. _

 

_ “My neighbor’s,” she turned to him and remarked with snark. “Apparently Mr. Whiskers climbed up my window and somehow ended destroying my bathroom.” _

 

_ “Looks like he made a grand escape through the air vent,” he stated, noticing that the meowing hadn’t ceased. _

 

_ The pair followed the escalating in volume noise through the hallway, trying to pinpoint the exact location of the animal. It had been quite amusing to her how mission focused Ethan was on finding the cat. She would walk behind him, trying to cover her chuckles at his seriousness over such a silly event. _

 

_ But her good mood was flushed away when he absentmindedly landed his hand on the doorknob of her children’s room. The noise was obviously coming from there, it was only natural that he’d open the door to check if the cat was actually inside the room.  _

 

_ “Ethan, no,” she blurted out. A wave of sorrow washed over her body, her hand reached to grip on his forearm roughly, preventing him from actually opening the door. _

 

_ He turned to her surprised, quickly realizing by her expression that something was very wrong. Ethan then tilted his head back to look at the door, his eyes at some point found the carvings on the door frame. A repetition of two different names on top of several height marks. When he dared to look back, Leanne was nowhere to be found. _

 

_ His instincts told him to go back to the master bedroom, and they were right, he actually found her there. She was leaned against one of the walls, her chin up and her eyes closed. He could tell there were a couple of tears freely streaming down her cheek. _

 

_ “I didn’t know,” he put out carefully. Moving a little closer, he stood in front of her figure, giving her just the right amount personal space. _

 

_ “You couldn’t have known. I never said anything about it,” she lowered her head, allowing her eyes to meet his. “We need to lure the cat out of their bedroom.” _

 

_ “The last thing on my mind right now is that damn cat,” he confessed, causing her to force a small grin. “Are you okay?” _

 

_ “I don’t look okay, now do I?” she still managed to joke, causing him to snort lightly. “Just a bunch of memories crashing right onto my face.” _

 

_ “Wanna talk about them?” he honestly wanted her to be more open about it. He wanted her to know that he was all ears if she ever wanted to take the burden off her back and talk it out. _

 

_ “It’s just that… I look at it- I look at that door and I remember all those mornings when I came back from a long tiring shift only to find my two little angels peacefully sleeping inside that bedroom,” she smiled at the recollections of a happier time invaded her mind. “Usually, there would be piles and piles of toys scattered on the floor between their beds.” _

 

_ He chuckled softly, much like she did. “Looks like they had a lot of fun together” _

 

_ “Oh, they did. They were always pretty close,” her voice lost some of that enthusiasm as she continued. “Before the accident, I knew I’d come home for that. But now- all that I find here is nothing. Nothing inside that bedroom, nothing in their beds. I come home to this excruciating silence… and I find myself surrounded b-by nothing...” her voice broke and those hazel orbs got teared up as she spoke. _

 

_ “It doesn’t feel like a home anymore,” he completed her sentence lowly.  _

 

_ “No. It doesn’t…” she shook her head to the sides. “I tried to put the house in the market, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. Instead, I did everything in my power to stay as far away as possible from this place” a brief pause allowed her to sigh heavily. “That’s why I pull all of those double shifts, and work as much as I can. It distracts me from this dark cloud hovering my house.” _

 

_ “I get it…” the somber tone of his voice captured her attention. She was surprised by the pain behind the way he spoke. “After my mom passed away from complications of the ALS, I enlisted on the army. Mostly because I needed to get out of that place, where everything reminded me of her. I know it’s not the same th-” _

 

_ “It kinda is,” she trailed him off. Her hand flew to cradle his face as she ran her thumb on his cheek in a solidarity gesture regarding the rough things he had to face when he was basically still a kid. A warm smile took over the sadness clear on her expression. “You help me a lot more than you think. This house is far less unbearable when you’re here with me. I feel good when I’m around you.” _

 

_ All Ethan can do to retribute her honest and moving words was to pull her close, wrapping his arms around her and securing her small frame in his tight embrace. She allows her forehead to fall on his shoulder, as he hands unwaveringly hold onto him. Her small sob against his body prompts him to press his lips against her hair. _

 

_ “You don’t deserve any of the bad things that happened to you. You hear me?” he muttered in between the chestnut strands that cover the top of her head. He also feels as she nodded, still not breaking the established point of contact. _

 

A few hours later, when he finds himself talking to her again, this time in a more intimate way, he allows himself to think of that particular day again. She’d just told him the one thing that slipped her mind back to when the neighbor’s cat almost caused her to have a breakdown; she hadn’t even entered her children’s room in over four years. Guilt was displayed again on her face, as she comments on how Ariel had been sleeping on the couch even though there was a comfortable spot for the teen girl not more than a few feet away.

 

“What the hell is wrong with me? Am I that afraid of those memories?” Leanne is more confused than ever since her whole world fell apart. Moving on was never easy, but one could guess after this much time she would have managed to at least improve on the grief towards her son and daughter.

 

“Maybe it’s not the memories you’re afraid of,” Ethan’s train of thought interested her. It was a point of view different from any of the things she’d questioned for a while now. “Maybe it’s replacing them with something new, because that might be a betrayal.”

 

Silently, she made sense of his words. He was right, painfully right. Just the very idea of surviving while her whole family left this world, already seemed like a betrayal at some level for a very angst part of her. Perhaps this new close call to death, in case she’d live to see another day, could be transformed into something good. A fresh new start for a life where she would have no regrets, where she could be in peace with past and present.

 

She stood up about the same time as her fellow doctor did, he was going to take the blood sample he just collected from her to the lab when her weakened body tumbled towards his. Leanne coughed on the tissue he had given her, her throat aching in the process. When she looked at the little paper square after Ethan pointed it out, the dark red stains on its white surface frightened to the point of sending chills down her spine.

 

The vaccine wasn’t working. And the infection was spreading quickly throughout her system.


	5. Chapter 5

“We can’t save them.”

The last few words he dared to speak kept bouncing around inside his head. Ethan could hardly believe that it was over, CDC had given up on saving the people inside that tent. It was a death sentence to Leanne, Ariel, Mario, Malaya, Elliot and the dozens of other individuals who were completely caught by surprise inside a mess of epic proportions. 

 

Would destiny really be this cruel? To give him a slight taste of something so pure and real only to harshly take it away from him when in reality they had only just begun. Was whatever higher power in charge that much of a sadist to make him get so involved only to see the woman he loved dying right before his eyes?

 

He loved her. Although he hasn't gotten the chance to say it yet, he did, with all his heart and every fiber of his human being. She couldn’t pass without knowing that, he had to make sure to tell her exactly what he felt. It was only fair.  And as he sat on the floor of the desert hospital hallway, with the three co-workers that were with him by the time Reddick had officially stated this was over, Ethan reminded the exact moment when he realized he was in love.

 

_ “He’s actually pretty cute,” the male doctor patted the cat that rested on his lap. The chubby little striped feline was laid on his back, as the man’s hand caressed his belly. Mr. Whisker’s purred from time to time, signaling he was enjoying the attention. _

 

_ “You say that because he didn't destroyed  _ _ your _ _ bathroom,” Leanne also rested on the colonel’s body, her head was pressed on one of his shoulders while she remarked snarky.  _

 

_ “Don’t listen to her Mr. Whiskers, she’s pissed that you’ll make her buy another tube of toothpaste,” Ethan leaned closer to the cat, whispering as he talked to the pet again. “She’s cheap.” _

 

_ The brunette’s hand playfully slapped the arm of her lover. “And you’re an idiot,” she had to bite the insides of her cheek to avoid giggling along at the way he laughed about her reaction. _

 

_ Since the Mr. Whiskers mysteriously appeared back in the bathroom after his grand escape, Ethan managed to pick him up to be taken back to its owner. But the animal became quite fond of him instantaneously, not accepting to leave the man’s arms. So now the three of them were on the couch, waiting until Leanne’s neighbor brought some cat toys to lure her pet back. _

 

_ “Touch his belly, come on,” he elbowed Leanne’s rib lightly, encouraging her to pet the animal. _

 

_ “I’m not a cat person,” she defensively replied. _

 

_ “Huh, you’re definitely a cat person,” he scoffed in a joke. Noticing she had raised her hand to slap him again, he amended. “That’s not a bad thing, by the way,” _

 

_ Taking her hand, that was mid air on the motion of slapping him again, Ethan guided her to touch the soft white fur of the cat’s belly. He moved her hand from side to side, and Mr. Whiskers didn’t fail on showing how much he appreciated the gesture as he purred, lazily closing his eyes. _

 

_ “Okay, maybe he’s not an absurd creature after all,” she conceded with an amused grin. _

 

_ “See, I told you deep down she liked you, buddy,” he turned to the cat again, who seemed to have understand judging by the way he meowed softly. _

 

_ “Thank you,” Leanne raised her head, using her chin to support its weight on his shoulder as she gazed at the man. _

 

_ “For what?” he turned to face her. There was something even more beautiful than usual on her expression. It made him want to hold her close and never let go. He felt weird, although it was rather nice to imagine such thing.  _

 

_ “For everything; finding Mr. Whiskers…” she trailed off in a joke before becoming more serious. “Dealing with all this mess right here,” her hands waved at herself in a pointing gesture. _

 

_ “I really like dealing with this mess,” he replied in all honesty as his voice grew more tender. _

 

_ “I’m surprised you haven’t run away yet,” she was also truthful stating that. Her last attempt at coming back to the relationships world ended up with a colleague running away, only to never be heard of again -- even by his own father. _

 

_ “Why would I even do that?” he furrowed his eyebrows at her in consternation. His hand held a little tighter to her hand as they continued to pet the cat’s belly. “There’s no other place in the world that I would rather be other than by the side of this  _ _ hot _ _ mess.” _

 

_ “You flatter me,” she chuckled softly, a light shade of pink coloring her cheeks.   _

 

_ “I’m only stating the obvious,” he added confidently. _

 

_ The doorbell buzzed soon after. Leanne adjusted herself on the couch so Ethan could stand up and take the cat to the front door. “Come on Mr. Whiskers time to go home.” _

 

“We found the cat…” the army doctor thought out loud. Maybe there was a lesson on this small anecdote, eventually they got a positive resolution to the whole runaway cat problem.

 

“What?” Campbell, who was on his right side, questioned in complete astonishment.

 

“Mr. Whiskers crawled back through the air vent. I found him in the bathroom again,” he turned to Campbell, a grin spreading through his face as a new idea colonized his mind.

 

“Willis, do I need to check your temperature or something?” the taller doctor frowned.

 

“I think I have an idea,” he turned to face the other two men sat by his other side. “You guys will have to bear with me in this one. Are you up to it?”

 

“Yes,” Angus replied with certainty right away.

 

“I’m with you, bro,” Jesse also manifested his desire to help. The three men turned to face Campbell, waiting for his reply.

 

“I think you’re delusional,” the hospital attending commented before sighing heavily and granting Willis a chance. “But since we’re kind of thin on options- yeah, I’m game.”

 

“Perfect. Here’s what we’ll do…”

 

The colonel explained the plan; approaching Gretchen, who clearly was solidary to their pain and press her into allowing them to analyze the samples on their own. Of course it was a shot in the dark, the chances were indeed slim as the CDC worker had pointed out, but they had no other choice. It was possibly the only way to help their friends inside the quarantine.

 

Thankfully, they managed to get Gretchen on board to this Hail Mary plan. The four men and the blonde woman scanned through the piles of blood samples from each one of the infected people they had attended since the beginning of the outbreak. They were in search for someone who responded to the virus without any sort of medication, if they could isolate this factor that fought back against the virus, they could terminate it for good.

 

“How do we know if we have something concrete?” Angus wondered.

 

“You’ll know when you see it, trust me,” Ethan replied while trading to look in a new plaque.

 

“Do you really think we’ll find someone immune in the middle of such a small sample of the population,” Gretchen wasn’t particular positive, even though she had offered to help.

 

“What other choice to we have?” Campbell was rather irritated. Since Heather passed yesterday, he’d been on the edge of his seat due to all this helplessness. Now it was not the time to whine, instead, they needed to give it all. “Standing still while they die? No way,”

 

“Statistically, it’s possible,” the army doctor meddled, answering the CDC worker in a much gentler way than his colleague.

 

“Less talk and more search, how about that, huh?” Mama put an end to the conversation.

 

Two long hours had gone by since they started, and still, no hope in the horizon. Gretchen was about to leave, since it seemed like they’d get to nowhere here anyway. As Ethan tried to reason with her for an extension of their time with the samples, Campbell delivered the news everyone waited eagerly.

 

“Willis...” the taller man’s voice got not only his attention but of everybody else in the room. They gathered around the promising sample. “I found something.”

 

Ethan’s eyes landed on the sample, it was indeed a match, no doubt of that. Suddenly he was overwhelmed by a rush of emotions, he couldn’t even put two words together to actually articulate a sentence. They had it, a cure. They made it.

 

Later on, as he and Campbell walked down the hallway in order to get started on treating the patients, he tapped on the back of a man with whom he had quite a few problems over the last few months, but who at the end, had grown to be a friend.

 

“You found the cat,” he playfully put, still amused that they had discovered a way to save everyone.

 

“I still have no clue what you’re talking about…”

 


	6. Chapter 6

His rounds around the ICU to check on a bunch of very special patients always ended up here, at her room. Truth was, he’d stop by every 20 minutes or so, just to be sure she was well, breathing and stable. It was actually stupid, the preliminary exam after the blood transfusion had already established that the antibodies were helping her fight the virus effectively. Her full recovery was expected, and she would probably regain consciousness soon, yet he was still worried. Right now, he didn’t bother to hide it much, though.

 

It was probably the hundredth time he’d come to see her. As he supposed, she still was soundly asleep, laid on her back and enjoying that nice time of rest her body surely deserved after being put under so much. He couldn’t control himself to not get closer to her on the bed, seeing as she already had a better complexion and seemed more hydrated. His hand was just as bold, daring to run its fingers through her hair gently, removing her bangs from over her face.

 

_The stingy sensation on his arm was enough to cause Ethan to wake up. His eyes open slowly, and he realized it still was night. Perfect, at least he’d get a few more hours of sleep. But the limb that became a good reason to interrupt his rest throbbed again, so finally, he looked to the side and got a glimpse of what was going on._

 

_Most of his body wasn’t in the big spoon position anymore, but his arm didn’t have enough space to move and now it was trapped underneath Leanne’s body. He chuckled slightly at first before leaning in closer to the beautiful figure by his side to try and find a way to release his numb arm._

 

_He hovered above her small frame, only to notice how adorable she was while asleep. She had a much more relaxed expression compared to the frowns usually displayed on her face during a code black. There was a discreet smile gracing her full lips, he wondered if her dreams were that good or maybe he was the one responsible for such action. Her hair was also messier than usual, practically falling over her closed eyes. It was a beautiful sight, and maybe if it didn’t sound extremely creepy on his head, he could spend the whole night watching her sleep._

 

_But besides that, there was also the numb arm factor, which brought him a considerable amount of pain by now. So, very slowly, Ethan started to slide it away from under her. His head tilted in a way where he could have a better vision of the way he was pulling his arm out. In fact, he was so focused on doing so in a way where she wouldn’t even notice what was happening, that he missed the moment her eyelids opened slowly._

 

_“What are you doing?” her sleepy voice caught him completely off guard._

 

_He return to his previous position, having a chance to look down at her with wide eyes. Then he chuckled nervously. “Hey.”_

 

_“Hi…” she moved her eyebrow up, silently inquiring him. “Explanation, please.”_

 

_“You’re on top of my arm. It’s numb,” he justified simply._

 

_“Why didn’t you say anything, then?” her words were laced with irony._

 

_“Eh…” he scrunched his nose, and at last he got her to giggle. He did look adorable like this, she had to admit. “I didn’t have the heart to wake you up. You were sleeping so cute.”_

 

_She snorted and raised her back high enough so he could successfully remove his arm from under her. He fell back on the mattress, landing in a way where he could look to her._

 

_“Sorry and thank you,” he spoke in an apologetic tone._

 

_“Roll to the other side,” she just replied._

 

_Ethan did what she requested, even though he was confused about why she asked this. Once he adjusted to that position, he felt the warmth of her own arm crossing his side, followed by her body being pressed against his back. It felt way more comfortable than he assumed it would be._

 

_“I’m the little spoon, now?” he mumbled, listening as she hummed positively in return. “I’ve never been the little spoon.”_

 

_“Really?” Leanne questioned before planting a few tender kisses in the back of his neck. She smirked at herself after seen how the little hairs on his skin raised._

 

_“Yeah, this is actually pre-”_

 

_“Nevermind, just shut up and go back to sleep,” she interrupted him. In another time they’d talk this, right now she just wanted to rest._

 

_“Okay…” he said with a snort._

 

_“Nighty night,” she whispered, causing him to grin right away._

 

_“Nighty night.”_

 

His hand continued to caress her hair while his icy blue eyes admired every inch of her face. Funny how she looked the exact same way than from that night his arm got stuck. After all that they’ve been through, it was rewarding to know that she wasn’t going anywhere. Nothing bad would happen and they had a whole life ahead to make up for all the lost time.

 

“Ethan?” the barely audible tone of her voice, filled with laziness as she barely opened her her eyes put trailed off his thoughts.

 

“Hey…” he whispered tenderly as his lips curled to a smile. “Go back to sleep, darling.”

 

She grunted something he couldn’t quite comprehend before drifting back to sleep. He let out a small chuckle and leaned forward in order to press his lips on her forehead, right beside the cut that brought her here to this bed on the first place.

 

“I love you,” he murmured against her skin.

 

Backing off, he glared at her asleep frame once again. Finally, it was out of his chest, the one thing he’d been holding back this whole time. She didn’t hear it, and he intended to change that as soon as this whole outbreak chaos had come to an end. For now, this good feeling of confessing his real feelings for her was good enough.

 

“Gonna blow your cover like that, Willis,” Jesse’s teasing remark caused him to jump back and away from her. Yup, he had to keep in mind their relationship was still a secret, even though if he put some thought into it, it was kinda obvious he had ruin the secret with the insane amount of times he had visited her.

 

“I think the sedation is wearing off, she was conscious for a little while here," he explained, distancing himself from her bed.

 

"Go check on Ariel before she wakes up. She's going to be worried for sure," Jesse approached Ethan, his hand tapping on the doctor's back a couple of times.

 

Ethan simply nodded and moved towards the room's exit. He stopped on his tracks though, taking one last glimpse at her still unconscious beloved. "Jesse..."

 

"Don't worry. I'm keeping an eye on _our_ girl," the nurse answered as he adjusted on the chair by the heart monitor. He heard Willis footsteps fading down the crowded hall. Leaning closer to Leanne, Jesse whispered. "You chose the right one this time, Daddy."

 


End file.
